1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an illuminated seat belt buckle for use in a seat belt system of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A seat belt system for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle typically includes seat belt webbing, a tongue assembly on the webbing, and a buckle. The tongue assembly is inserted and locked in the buckle to secure the webbing about a vehicle occupant. Such a seat belt system may also include a mechanism for illuminating the buckle to help the vehicle occupant locate the buckle.
The present invention is a buckle for a vehicle seat belt system. The buckle comprises a latch mechanism for connection with a tongue assembly of the seat belt system. The latch mechanism has a latched condition and a released condition. The buckle also comprises a manually engageable pushbutton connected with the latch mechanism. The pushbutton is movable between a first position in which the latch mechanism is in the latched condition and a second position in which the latch mechanism is in the released condition. The pushbutton contains an illumination mechanism comprising an electroluminescent panel movable with the pushbutton when the pushbutton moves between the first and second positions.